1. FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a no-spring pop-up dispenser for sequential delivery of rectangular self-stick removable notes from a fan-folded pad of such notes. Self-stick removable notes are sheets of paper having a narrow band of a relatively lightly adhering pressure sensitive adhesive along one edge of the back surface of the paper. Such self-stick removable notes in many sizes, colors and configurations are widely distributed by the 3M Company of St. Paul, Minn. and sold under the brand name POST-IT. POST-IT brand notes are almost universally available in thousands of variety stores, drug stores, supermarkets, office supply stores, by mail order, and the like throughout the world such that they are one of the best known consumer products available on the market. Fan-folded notes have the adhesive strip applied to alternate parallel edges of the stacked note paper sheets comprising the pad, and such fan-folded pads are readily available for use with pop-up dispensers.
2. THE PRIOR ART
One form of pop-up note dispenser distributed by the 3M Company comprises a rectangular cardboard box whose length and width correspond generally to those of a fan-folded pad of notes such that the pad fits with a loose fit within the box. A transverse slot is provided in the center of the top of the box. The free unattached end of the topmost note sheet extends through that slot and permits the pad sheets to be withdrawn sequentially as needed. The depth of this dispenser box is substantially greater than the thickness of the fan-folded pad of notes to be dispensed. The reason for this is that a relatively large diameter helical compression coil spring is required to be packaged within the dispenser under the pad of notes to urge the pad upward so that the topmost sheet is at all times readily accessible through the slot in the top of the box.
Another form of dispenser sold by the 3M Company is in the form of a bracket having a base with an arcuate inner surface, a pair of end walls and a pair of arcuate top wall members spaced apart from the arcuate inner wall by a distance permitting insertion of a note pad therein. The ends of the top wall members are spaced apart to provide an opening through which the topmost note sheet is delivered. Although the note pad must be bowed in order to insert it into this form of dispenser, a spring-loaded plunger is required to maintain the pad in engagement with the inside top wall adjacent the opening. It should be noted that the end walls of the space defined within the bracket diverge slightly from the arcuate inner wall toward the inside surface of the top wall.
These prior art pop-up note dispensers are unnecessarily complicated because of the requirement for spring pressure to maintain the note pad in operable position for dispensing the note sheets, especially as the pad nears exhaustion. It is the principal object of the present invention to provide a simplified pop-up note dispenser which does not require the presence of a spring.